Representative Hank Johnson (GA-04) reintroduced the Stronger Communities Through Better Transit Act, which would establish a federal funding program for transit operations, providing $20 billion in annual funding over four years ($80 billion) to expand the service of buses and trains.

Public transit is essential to communities, local economies, and the lives of millions of people across the country and provides significant benefits to the climate when it is abundant enough and affordable enough to be an alternative to personal vehicle trip miles. Transit agencies can't use federal funding to help cover operating costs, which accounts for two-thirds of a transit agency’s total expenses.

Faced with fiscal cliffs in the years after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic plus escalating inflation, many transit agencies have been forced to reduce service rather than focusing on increasing ridership back to—and beyond—pre-pandemic levels. This is the wrong direction with respect to the climate crisis.

The Stronger Communities Through Better Transit Act would modernize transit operations funding and allot it to places that need it most,  areas of persistent poverty and underserved communities—places where transit ridership tends to be highest.